Here's Graham, after a long and fruitful afternoon at the fair. I wonder if HE'S pondering the passage of time....Haven't written much in the past several months... and yet things have happened. Big things. And little things. So, I thought that (for the sake of my own desire for a little continuity) I'd chronicle a bit of it. If you want it chronologically, start at the bottom. (This is kind of like my Kings and Queens of England book - starts with the more recent and works backwards.)
Nice to have Jenny and Graham with us for a few days here in October - and right when the Fresno Fair was up and running. Had to take Graham to see the animals. :-)
Connor introduced him to the shooting gallery.
Nice to just walk around and be together.
Oops - got this photo out of order. This was at Sally's wedding rehearsal. Uncle Connor just LOVED hanging out with Graham!
Back to the Fair. "Cows!"
Sliding with "Papa."
Ah. Now we're at Sally and Nathan's wedding. She came across the hills in a carriage with her dad... and left the same way with Nathan (they didn't exactly ride off into the sunset... but almost. They came back for photos before sunset - then the reception - THEN they drove off, in a balloon-filled truck).
Handsome ring-bearers. Graham DID smile -- I just didn't click at the right time.
Kaylee was one of several bridesmaids...
... as was Jenny. (You can see a tiny hint of their next little one, due to arrive in March. :-)
Rehearsing the next day's events!
Tim, the happy sound-technician.
Now we really jump back in time - to the civil war. Connor camped out and participated in the reenactment for the weekend. Kaylee just donned her dress for Saturday evening's activities (following a day of participating in a "Set Apart Girl" conference with Eric and Leslie Ludy).
Gun cleaning after each battle.
"Climb Every Mountain." This time it was, once again, Half Dome. This is the traditional "make mom think you're about to die" photo.
The hikers/climbers - Connor, Tim, Jeremy, Jesse - at the top.
Back down to the flat lands. Enjoying time out at the Goehrings - one of several August Sunday evening gatherings with our church in various homes.
Shirt-making to commemorate the rich friendship of several girls.
It was also a time of wonderful "hellos" (with their accompanying "goodbyes" to follow, of course!). Kaylee (another one - from Southern CA) with her new twin brothers at our church's summer conference. 
What a wonderful week at Oak Glen - the site of our Pacific Coast Presbytery conference. Volleyball is always a highlight there (this year rousing games of dodgeball were added to the lineup). (Notice the nasty rug burn on Ariel's and others' legs - a consequence of carpeted gym floors.)
Lots of wonderful talk-time with cousins. Sweet girls!
A little air time for Andrew!
Moving on (or rather "back") to Ashley and Ryan's wedding - tho you wouldn't know it from this photo. This is a weakened little hummingbird that Connor found at their outdoor wedding and subsequently brought home , who, after a night of clever feeding (sugar water dropped from a turkey baster into the bird's beak and into the center of several flowers placed near the bird), regained its strength and soared amazingly out of sight when we released it from its little makeshift cardboard box home! It was beautiful and remarkable!
Ashley and Ryan's lovely wedding. (In reverse order:) Entering the reception area...
...entering with her dear dad, Bus, to be given away to her husband, Ryan.
We were oh so happy that Jenny, Max and Graham came out here for Ashley's wedding in July (and Sally's in October). Jenny sang beautifully during the ceremony (and during Sally's, too) while Max accompanied her. (I played for the rest of the lakeside ceremony and nearly fell into the water when I tripped over the keyboard - but no one got a photo of that to post here. :-) 
Enjoying every bit of Graham-time that we can get!
So nice to have Jenny and Max in our home for a few days.
We had an invigorating - well, maybe slightly tiring, too! - day at Pine Flat reservoir with our church family. Wave Runners, pontoon boats, motor boats with inflatable rafts and water skiis to pull... lots of fun!
Farewell to Kelsey following Bible Study at the Evans' home.
Summer travels - back east (again, in reverse order). We flew to IN to McCracken grandparents and cousins, bringing Jenny and Graham in for a few days, too -- then drove to PA to Habecker grandparents and Aunt Lyril. 
Lots of car time.Kaylee drove, too, but we always make sure that it's during a downpour and in heavily-traveled construction zones. :-)
The park in Grandma and Grandpa Habecker's neighborhood. Fun times!
Reenacting the annual "fly off the swing into the wild beyond" stunt.
A fun evening with Aunt Lyril and Edd (and the singing/talking bird. We have videos of Kaylee and the bird singing - and then laughing together.)
Lots of Grandma love. Grandma Habecker (above) and Grandma McCracken (below - with Luke). Goodness, where are my GRANDPA photos? THEY provide lots of love, too! :-)
A cousins' corn-shucking party.
Amanda inside her bubble umbrella.
Oh the fun these girls had. :-) (Enjoying having cousin Avery around, too.)
A bit of Psalm-singing sillies (the result of mixed up words...) :-)
And, oh yes, Kaylee's June trip to Oklahoma to be with Jenny and Graham while Max attended a Ravi Zacharias conference.
Simple pleasures. Tooth-brushing.
And kitchen-painting.
Swimming!
Popcorn!!
Baths! (with someone messing around with the after-bath grooming :-)
Looney tooney goof balls.
And oh what fun to have Aunt Lyril join the girls for several days in Oklahoma! (A good storm was brewing here, I think - complete with flooding... tho no tornadoes this time.)
This is the "I'm going to Jenny's house!" look. :-)
And another happy time for Kaylee: a trip to Disneyland with dad. This was her Christmas present - tho actually "earned" by volunteering and getting free tickets to Disney . (Connor's Christmas present was a ski trip last winter with dad.)
Then a quick jump back to May - to the end of the school year. This is the guys' ensemble that Tim and Connor enjoy -- Tim directs, Connor sings with them.
And then - everyone needs token Aussies in their life. :-) Well, not really. But we're sure glad to know THESE: Steve and Robyn. Great friends for many years... from back before Tim and I were married... when his parents lived in Australia (and Tim spent 6 months there). Such encouraging, fun folks (let's see, we could use a few more adjectives here -- those don't seem to say enough! :-) They spent a few days with us... with one day at Yosemite, of course.Well, this was a really long post. Bummer that it's not actually in print in a scrapbook so that I can sit and page through it and keep it over the years (after blogger's a thing of the distant past...). Still, it feels good to have looked back and noted the blessings of the past months - even with their difficult times and sad goodbyes. God is good and faithful. May He continue to enrich all of our lives through each other.
